Program Rating Sheet - Athens State University Athens, Alabama

Transcription

1 Program Rating Sheet - Athens State University Athens, Alabama Undergraduate Secondary Teacher Prep Program: Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education with Certification, Social Science 2013 Program Rating: Note: This program rating is based on scores on applicable key standards. For more on standard scores and program ratings, see our methodology. Summary of Scores on Undergraduate Secondary Standards* Key Standards Selection Criteria Common Core Middle School Content Common Core High School Content Student Teaching Other Standards Classroom Management Lesson Planning Assessment and Data Equity Not reported this year Secondary Methods Outcomes Evidence of Effectiveness *Elementary and special education programs are evaluated with a different set of Teacher Prep Review standards. For more on which standards apply to each type of program, see our methodology. Program rating scores: Program provides very strong preparation Program provides strong preparation Program provides adequate preparation Program provides weak preparation Consumer alert Standard scores: Strong Design Meets standard P Passes standard Nearly meets standards Partly meets standard Meets a small part of standard F Fails standard Does not meet standard Not applicable Not rated (most likely because data not provided)

2 Selection Criteria The standards for admission into either the institution or its teacher preparation program should select teacher candidates from only the top half of the college population. The program fails to meet the standard because it is not housed in an institution that is sufficiently selective to provide assurance that teacher candidates have the requisite academic talent and it does not exploit the potential for admission requirements (grade point average and/or standardized tests) to provide such assurance. Common Core Middle School Content

3 Common Core High School Content Without a thorough grasp of the subject they will teach typically acquired by a major in an academic discipline high school teachers will be unable to provide the sophisticated level of instruction that their students will need to progress. All children deserve to have teachers who are well versed in each and every one of the subjects they teach, regardless of teacher shortages that are used to justify preparation shortcuts. The institution fully meets the standard because all certification pathways offered ensure that high school teacher candidates have sufficient content knowledge in every subject they will be qualified to teach. These pathways include: Mathematics English Science Social Sciences Student Teaching A high-quality student teaching experience depends on: 1) sufficient feedback as defined by five or more observations with written feedback provided at regular intervals, 2) clear communication to school districts that cooperating teachers must be both strong mentors of adults and highly effective instructors, and 3) the capacity of the program to play an active role in the selection of cooperating teachers, as evidenced by its solicitation of substantive nominating information. While the program requires observations to be spaced at regular intervals, it fails to meet this standard because it does not provide student teachers with written feedback after five or more observations, does not clearly communicate to school districts the desired characteristics of cooperating teachers, and fails to assert its critical role in the selection of cooperating teachers.

4 Classroom Management Lesson Planning

5 Assessment and Data Using data on student performance has always been central to good instruction. Teachers should know how to prepare and draw information from an array of assessments, and work individually and in teams to adjust and extend their lessons to promote learning. The program nearly meets the standard. It requires that teacher candidates prepare both formative and summative classroom assessments. However, while the requirements that candidates, individually and in teams, interpret and apply data from both standardized and classroom assessments are substantial, they are not comprehensive. Equity Not reported this year Secondary Methods Teacher candidates must learn successful strategies for teaching their subject, including the typical progression of student knowledge and common student misconceptions. Since teacher candidates in each of the core curriculum certification pathways should take subject-specific methods coursework, there should be no distinctions drawn among the pathways in terms of coursework requirements. An evaluation of one randomly selected core curriculum pathway is therefore sufficient to determine the strength of the program's overall approach to training secondary candidates in methods. Based on an evaluation of the certification pathway for Secondary Social Sciences, the program fully meets the standard. This evaluation indicates that candidates in core curriculum certification pathways take a subject-specific methods course in their area of certification that focuses on specific instructional strategies to improve the delivery of content and includes assignments which require candidates to practice such strategies

6 Outcomes Like K-12 institutions, colleges and universities must commit themselves to gathering the data needed for teacher preparation program accountability. Some institutions are privileged by the initiatives taken by their state to provide them with outcomes information, but all institutions have the capacity to obtain such information, independent of state initiatives if necessary. The teacher preparation institution only partly meets the standard. The institution: Surveys its graduates regarding topics relevant to program evaluation; Surveys its graduates' employers about their professional performance; and Collects both of these forms of data on an established timetable that supports regular program evaluation. However, it does not: Secure data from teacher performance assessments administered to candidates just prior to or at graduation; or Secure growth data on its graduates' students. Evidence of Effectiveness A rating on this standard is not applicable because evaluation depends on reports on the relative effectiveness of the program's graduates from a student performance data model and the program's state does not publish any such report.